The City is a Lonely Place [Tag: Zan]

[tonks]

Nymphadora Lupin, under yet another guise, was wandering Diagon Alley as the night began creeping in. She loved to go down to the street when the night was coming, as it was quiet - the bustle of the day had been long gone. It was also calming, so she found. It was the one place where things were never going to change - even though the purebloods had won the War ten years beforehand, the same shops were open in Diagon Alley, as were open when Tonks had been a young student at Hogwarts. She smiled reminiscently, running her hand across the brickwork of the shops. The joys of being young and carefree - never having to worry about what might happen or what could happen, or who could do what. As a child you got freedom, yes, freedom. Freedom from pretty much everything. Sure, your parents would rein you in every so often - but it didn't stop you being free.

How she missed those days. Ever since she had become an Auror, things had seemed more and more urgent. The battles, the fighting, the bloodshed. Everything had been destroyed. Everything she had ever worked for - destroyed before her very own eyes. The deaths had not left her unshaken, not even after all the years that had passed. She had lost her cousin, Sirius, who she had known for a very short time; then Dumbledore...that had been tough. The Order, his Order, had been left with no leader, no pathway...they'd had to re-elect people to help keep the organisation together. She had never forgiven Draco Malfoy, nor Severus Snape for their part in that. She felt guilty that she had let Snape get past - that she had trusted him. It hurt her. Then there was her protector, her teacher - Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody - who had been killed protecting Harry. She had been his protegé...his student. Needless to say, his death hit her hard. She had never had as much heart after that, to continue in the Auror Office. She was almost glad the Death Eaters had taken over - she was no longer needed there. She didn't even have to resign.

So many had died for the Order...and their deaths had been in vain. Tonks' eyes were filled with tears as she looked up. All their hard work - all their sacrifices - for nothing. But she wiped the tears away furiously. Under her breath, in a poisonous tone, she said "I can't give in. I won't give in. We'll beat them. I promise you - Sirius, Albus, Alastor - we will beat them."

She saw a shadow cast on her, and she looked up. There was someone standing there - someone who must've heard what she said. She pulled her wand from her jean pocket, her brown hair swinging as she stood defensively. If they made an attack on her, she'd be ready. Mad-Eye hadn't wasted his time on her - no way.

[Word Count - 498]
[Comments - Gah, this is the shortest opening post I've made in a VERY long time - sorry Zan!][/center]

[nightmare]

Have you heard the news that you’re dead?
No one ever had much nice to say
I think they never liked you anyway

Zan was quietly writing an inventory in her back room when she heard a loud crash coming from her store. Her head snapped up and her eyes narrowed. Her store had closed about half an hour ago and, as far as she knew, Evander wasn’t coming by tonight. Whoever was in her store wasn’t welcome. Wand gripped tightly in hand, Zan quietly crept out into the main part of her store, back pressed against the wall.

When she got into the store, she looked around, perplexed by the fact that it was empty. She caught movement in the corner of her eye and spun quickly. When she saw what had caused the movement, she sighed, her tense body relaxing. “Di, what did you do?” she demanded, glaring at her pet Kneazle. El Diablo gave her a scathing glance, then sauntered into the back room. Zan sighed and went over to the shelf that had snapped when El Diablo jumped on it. It had been full of glass cases for small pets, which were now shattered into tiny pieces. She couldn’t repair them, because they would all form into one big cage, which she didn’t need. She’d have to go shopping.

With another sigh, Zan shrugged on her jacket, earmuffs, and boots, for it was a chilly night. Diagon Alley would still be open, and it was where she usually shopped. She didn’t like going out in Knockturn Alley at night. She stepped outside, locked up her store, and Apparated to Diagon Alley.

She began to walk, head down and hands shoved in pockets. Her breath misted in front of her, and she shivered in the cold. She was mostly ignoring the few late shoppers around her, and they were returning the favor. She heard somebody muttering to the side, and was about to ignore them. However, she caught the angry tone in their voice, and the last four words: we will beat them. Around here, ‘them’ usually were the bloodsnobs. Zan paused, intrigued, in front of the woman who had spoken.

In the blink of an eye, the woman was on her feet, wand in hand. Zan raised an eyebrow, seemingly unruffled. Almost everybody she knew was defensive and quick to anger, it was best not to antagonize them. “Are yeh okay there?” she asked curiously. “Who’re yeh going to beat?”

[tonks]

Tonks looked the woman up and down. She didn't look threatening - more...nonplussed, actually. Still, Tonks had found out over time that the purebloods were more than happy to act like they were impure - just to find out anything that meant they could get rid of them. Tonks pursed her lips and replaced her wand into her back pocket. The woman had a nice, almost calming voice, and Tonks heard her words. "Yeah," she replied quickly. "Yeah...yeah I'm fine. Just a little frustrated - bad day." She said, as calmly as she could.

She saw that the girl was wrapped up tightly, unlike Tonks who was standing there in the middle of the street in an old cardigan of hers, jeans, a white t-shirt and trainers. But then again, she had spent so long being woken in the middle of the night for emergencies, that she no longer felt the cold. She wondered about this girl though. She was sure she had seen a shop where she was a worker or something, but she couldn't figure out who the heck she was - or which shop she thought she'd seen her in.

"I'm sorry," began Tonks, her lips pursed once again, "but I recognise you and I don't know why. Have we met?" What a stupid question. They either hadn't, or hadn't while she looked like this. This was the one issue Tonks always had because of her metamorphosis. She could remember someone and the conversations they had had together, but if she had a different hair colour or something, the other person wouldn't remember her.

Then again, it wasn't always a bad thing. After all, had she not been able to change her appearance, her son would have known she wasn't dead at all, and she'd have been hunted down by many purebloods for being in favour of Dumbledore's old rule and trying to kill their leader. Basically she'd be either thrown back into Azkaban, which, in the end, would not hurt her anymore. She'd been stuck in there for ten years and ten more wouldn't make any difference - maybe she'd be more like Bellatrix, with her maniacal laugh and crazy outlook on life, which could be rather fun, she imagined...or she'd be murdered.

To be honest, now that she had met her cousin and son - Tonks really didn't want to leave them. She knew how pureblood supremicists treated people like her and her family and she was not about to let them get rid of her and make their lives even more miserable. This girl did not look like one of those supremicists, and she seemed pretty down to earth. Hoping her thought would not be proved wrong, Tonks stood there, uncomfortable.

[Word Count :: 457]
[Comments :: When we get going, the word count'll pick up. I promise!!]

[nightmare]

Have you heard the news that you’re dead?
No one ever had much nice to say
I think they never liked you anyway

Zan could see the other woman look her over, evaluating her danger level. She must have found Zan relatively harmless, because she calmly put her wand away. She replied that she was fine, and Zan nodded. It seemed a bit more than a ‘bad day,’ but Zan wasn’t one to pry, especially in the life of somebody she barely knew. “I think we all know what tha’s like,” Zan said, her tone rich with her usual wry humor. Almost anybody in Diagon or Knockturn Alley experienced their share of ‘bad days.’

She tilted her head to examine the other woman. She was older than Zan, and had a wary look about her that seemed deeper than the carefulness of the other impurities. Unlike almost everybody else on the streets, she wasn’t wrapped up in layers of clothing. She seemed unaffected by the cold, which Zan found curious. She didn’t seem like a lot of the others Zan ran into in the Alleys. Where was she from, and why did Zan care so much?

Zan wasn’t altogether surprised the woman recognized her. A lot of people stopped by her shop; it was one of the few places where magical animals were sold at reasonable prices and weren’t emaciated beyond all repair. However, Zan was surprised that she didn’t recognize the other woman. Zan had a sharp eye and a good memory, and could usually place all of her customers. “I own a magical creature shop, on Knockturn Alley,” she replied in her usual rough voice. “Mehbeh yeh’ve stopped by there?”

Zan was now intrigued by this woman. She rarely met anybody who would look her in the eye, let alone talk to her and ask questions. Taking the initiative, Zan sat down next to the woman, briskly rubbing her hands together. “M’ name’s Zan. Your’s?” She held out a hand for the woman to shake, showing more manners than most of the other impurities around here.

TAG !Tonks
WORD COUNT ! 325
LYRICS ! Dead! by My Chemical Romance
NOTES ! Don’t worry ‘bout the word count, and sorry it took so long!